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Clockwork Planet, Vol. 3

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By Yuu Kamiya, Tsubaki Himana, and Sino. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by fofi.

Last time I said that reader sympathy was largely shifting away from Naoto and towards Marie. I’ll go further this time: Marie is why I’m reading this series. There’s actually some decent not-Naoto characterization in this volume, as RyuZU begins to actually appreciate who Marie is and AnchoR is able to realize that she is not merely there to be a giant Mass Weapon of Destruction (though she possibly wishes she learned that lesson a bit earlier). But it’s Marie who the reader follows throughout the book, as she’s now become the star far more than Naoto has. This despite the fact that, like Naoto, she too is shown to be something more than human – after she angrily rants about his amazing hearing one too many times, Naoto comes right back and mentions how Marie’s eyesight is just as ridiculous, and allows her to perform equally impossible tasks. They may not be a romantic pairing (though AnchoR calling them her parents is not helping), but together they are a force of nature.

The basic plot of this series has been the same over the three books, as this book picks up shortly after the end of the second one. Things are looking very bad for our terrorist heroes, who are up against a very crafty enemy, who knows both when to show off its amazing power and when to step back and simply watch the government fall apart. The scenes with the cabinet were viciously satirical, and you get the feeling that the authors are no great fans of politics in general. Meanwhile, RyuZU is out of commission, Halter and Vermouth are down to brains and heads, (and not necessarily both), and Marie is constantly feeling as if the end has finally arrived. Naoto gets frustrated with this, mostly as he’s no0t that type of personality (which is why his characterization suffers – where can he go from here?), but I feel for Marie, as this is indeed a horrible situation it’s impossible to get out of. Luckily, with her, Naoto and his “wife and daughter”, they can achieve the impossible with a bit of effort.

The afterword suggested that this volume was mostly Kamiya’s work, and I’m not surprised, as there are elements of the book that are rather sleazy, particularly everything involving Vermouth, who is absolutely horrible and yet absolutely hilarious. This volume is also considerably longer than the others, and is one of the longer light novels on my phone – when it hits print, I’ll estimate it may be around 300 pages. There’s a lot going on here. That said, almost all the plot threads get wrapped up nearly – in fact, a bit too nearly. If I didn’t know there was a 4th volume of the series I’d swear that this was the final one, and I wonder if their editor made it end like this just in case they were late with the manuscript one too many times. In the meantime, I understand the anime was not well loved, but fans might want to give the novels a try, as they’ve gotten very good indeed.

Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, Vol. 1

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By Kikori Morino. Released in Japan as “Owari Nochi, Asanagi Kurashi” by Mag Garden, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Alterna pixiv. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Adrienne Beck. Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

I suppose I should not have been surprised. We’ve seen BL titles that are really cooking manga. We’ve seen Shonen Jump cooking manga, both with monsters and without. We’ve seen dungeon crawl cooking manga where you eat the monsters, and fantasy manga where you’re eating dragons. Heck, even the monstrous Fate/Stay Night franchise, which has always had a heavy element of cooking involved in it, has given in and offered us pure slice of life foodie manga. And now we see Giant Spider & Me, which is a post-apocalyptic story of life after the Earth seems to have suffered a great disaster that left the cities flooded. Except it’s really a slice-of-life heartwarming story about a girl and a giant spider bonding and learning more about each other. Except, well, it’s really about the food. Update your recipe cards, because you’ll be adding new entries after reading this.

Our heroine is Nagi, a young girl who lives alone in a cabin in the woods, about a medium-sized walk away from a grand view of the flooded remains of a large city. Theoretically she lives with her dad; in actuality, he’s been out exploring for a long time and has not come back, so she’s living by herself, foraging, and making do. (There are mentions of other villages, and a stranger shows up in the last chapter, so there are still people around.) One day she runs into a large spider, which as you can see by the cover is VERY large – about the size of her dining room table. I appreciated the fact that she was actually terrified for a while – in titles like this, usually the protagonist is a girl who has no sense of danger or fear, and I liked that Nagi is aware that yes, this is a GIANT SPIDER. That said, it rapidly becomes clear that said spider (quickly named Asa) acts more like a puppy looking for a new home, and after Nagi takes pity and invites it back to her place, the bonding begins.

The cooking and slice-of-life war for supremacy throughout this first volume, until perhaps the cliffhanger at the very end, which seems designed to be a cliffhanger more than anything else. Nagi is sweet and elf-sufficient, and a good cook. Asa, as I said earlier, acts like a rambunctious puppy at times, knocking things over and such. That said, they’re also able to protect Nagi from more dangerous and less adorable predators, so it’s not entirely a master/pet relationship – it’s meant to be a budding friendship. There are also hints that we might eventually hear what happened in this world, and expand the cast a bit. That said, this isn’t the sort of series you want getting too complicated. It’s a story of a girl, a spider, and delicious food. Not much else is needed.

Takane & Hana, Vol 1

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Takane & Hana Volume 1 by Yuki Shiwasu

This month has been crazy busy for me, so I haven’t had as much time to read manga as I would like. But there’s nothing like the first volume of a new shoujo series to break me out of a reading slump! Originally I was a tiny bit skeptical about the couple featured in this manga, because it features a high school girl and a businessman. But if Dengeki Daisy can easily convince me that the best companion for a young orphan is an older emotionally damaged janitor/hacker, Takane & Hana can certainly do the same for its unconventional couple.

As I started reading the first few pages of this manga, I was impressed at how many awesome facial expressions and comedic situations Shiwasu was able to pack into the first few pages. Hana is being dragged to a marriage meeting with the heir of a business empire because the chairman happened to catch a glimpse of her older sister while he was visiting her father’s struggling subsidiary company. Hana and her dad look incredibly stressed, and they have an amusing exchange where she wonders “What’s the plan for if he falls in love with me?” and he reassures her, “You don’t really have the looks to make that happen.”

Takane Saibara shows up and turns out to be incredibly good-looking, but not so wonderful with social skills, commenting that he doesn’t like all the makeup Hana is wearing to disguise her age. She jumps up, throws her wig in his face, and stalks off yelling that she isn’t interested in him. Takane ends up deciding to spend more time with Hana, showing up at her house with an oversized bouquet of roses and pointing at her while declaring “I’ve taken an interest in you!” Takane attempts to sweep Hana off her feet by bullying her into wearing a designer dress and taking her out to an expensive restaurant, expecting her to be impressed by his display of wealth. There’s a great one-panel sequence where Hana calmly tears Takane to shreds by psychoanalyzing him, saying that he isn’t charming enough to attract anyone but gold-diggers who dump him quickly, but he doesn’t want to face reality so he just goes around saying that he hates women all the time. Takane actually manages to apologize to Hana for his remarks, but it seems like it is the first time he’s actually said “I’m sorry.” to a girl.

The dynamic between Takane and Hana is what I absolutely loved, as he’s emotionally stunted, and she’s incredibly insightful and self-assured. He doesn’t pursue anything physical with Hana, seeming content to show up with ever more elaborate bouquets and gifts, while she manages to get him to agree to a date where he cosplays as a commoner. Their odd encounters actually force them to get to know each other as people, and Hana finds herself unexpectedly jealous when she contemplates the idea of Takane dating another woman. The first volume of Takane & Hana packed in a surprising amount of emotional development and funny moments in just a few chapters. It might not be as overly sweet and over the top as My Love Story!!, but if you’re looking for a funny new shoujo series to add to your manga collection, Takane & Hana definitely delivers.

Manga the Week of 2/21/18

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SEAN: There are some tasty treats coming out next week, so let’s just jump right in.

Perhaps not tasty per se, but definitely interesting is Fukushima Devil Fish, which Breakdown Press is putting out. It’s by the late creator of Red Snow, and is subtitled “An Anti-Nuclear Manga”. I think it’s more of a collection rather than a story in itself. It doesn’t get more indie than this.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this one for a while; I’m looking forward to finally getting my hands on it.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has the 2nd volume of isekai harem fantasy How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, which is, well, good if you like isekai harem fantasy, and bad if you don’t.

There’s also a 3rd volume of Occultic;Nine, which I’m hoping will make a bit more sense and will try not to kill off the entire cast, though the barn door may already be open on that one.

Kodansha has only one print release this week, that being the 4th volume of That Time I got Reincarnated As a Slime.

They do, however, have a plethora of digital titles. We get All Out!! 5, Chihayafuru 9 (sooooo far behind), Cosplay Animal 4 (I need to finish 3, I enjoy this quirky, smutty series), Fuuka 16 (its end was recently announced). Hotaru’s Way 5, Kasane 10, and The Prince’s Black Poison 3 (as recently recommended by Japanese shoujo manga editors).

MICHELLE: I’m definitely down for All Out!! and Chihayafuru and really need to check out Hotaru’s Way, too. I confess The Prince’s Black Poison had looked like something I wouldn’t be keen on, but maybe I should give it another look.

ANNA: I’m soooo far behind with Chihayafuru too, but I love it.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a monstrous number of titles out next week. Let’s start with recurring volumes as we see Bloom Into You 4, Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage 3, the 5th print light novel of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Lord Marskman and Vanadis 6, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 2, NTR: Netsuzou Trap 4, and Tales of Zestiria 4.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up with Bloom Into You.

ASH: Bloom Into You for me, too. I’ll likely be picking up more Captain Harlock as well.

SEAN: Ending next week is Kase-san and, which has its 4th volume Kase-san and an Apron due out. I think it’s still having occasional online shorts, so there may be a 5th down the road, a la Orange, but this is it for now.

And there’s two debuts. The first is a classic example of current trends, with Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, which is, no lie, an adorable sweet slice of life story about a young girl and a giant spider after the apocalypse. There will be tea. Or at least espresso.

ASH: I just recently learned that food is a major part of this series, which of course bumped it up even higher on my list!

The second is a lot more retro. Some of you may remember Saint Seiya… pardon me, Knights of the Zodiac from way back in the Viz days. Now Seven Seas has Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho, a new series by the same writer with a different artist, featuring an all-female team. It runs in Champion Red, but I am not holding that against it. Should be interesting.

MICHELLE: Hmmm…

ANNA: I have a very similar reaction.

SEAN: Speaking of classics, Vertical is rescuing Voices of a Distant Star (from the creator of your name) and reprinting it with new translation. It’s complete in one volume, and it’s guaranteed to be bittersweet.

MICHELLE: I never did read this the first time.

ANNA: Me too! I’m curious about it.

SEAN: Viz has some more Gundam for us with a 6th Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt.

And they also have a 3rd Tokyo Ghoul: re.

So, devil fish? Tea with spiders? Slime power fantasies? Or time-dilated romance? We cater to every taste.

Baccano!, Vol. 1

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There are two things you need to know before you read this review. First, I’m a ride-or-die Godfather II fan, the kind of person who’s obsessively watched Robert DeNiro’s performance as the young Don Corleone more times than I can count. Second, I am not a Light Novel Person, despite my repeated efforts to embrace the format.

I disclose this information because Baccano! is a manga adaptation of a light novel series set in Prohibition-era New York, where rival families — one from Sicily, one from Naples — run guns, booze, and card games. That meant there was a 50% chance I’d love this series, since the premise screams “Manga Godfather!”, and a 50% chance I’d hate Baccano!, since the manga was conceived as a tie-in product for the novels’ hardcore fans. What I didn’t expect, however, was just how inept the adaptation would be; I assumed that my objections would be to content or characterization, not a sloppy, hole-filled (holy?) narrative. Shinta Fujimoto’s storytelling, however, is serviceable at best and amateurish at worst, cramming too many events and characters into volume one. The result is a jumbled mess of introductions, reunions, and exposition masquerading as conversation; I spent as much time backtracking two or three pages as I did moving forward, relying on the Wikipedia to demystify poorly explained plot twists, not the least of which is that some characters are immortal. 

Superficially, the artwork seems more polished than the narrative, but a close examination reveals just how perfunctory Fujimoto and Katsumi Enami’s character designs really are. The Martillos and Gandors are so blandly drawn that nothing about them reveals about the characters’ ethnicity, social standing, or profession, let alone the time period in which the story unfolds. The same is true for the physical environment. A few establishing shots depict fire escapes and brick buildings, but Fujimoto seldom provides much in the way of period detail, nor does he convey just how densely settled Little Italy was in the 1920s.

His lazy world-building is most evident in chapters two and three, when Firo Prochainezo, a foot soldier in the Martillo Camorra, tracks an assassin through the tumult of the San Gennaro Festival in much the same fashion as Don Corleone pursues Don Fanucci in The Godfather II. In Coppola’s hands, these scenes are bursting with the activity of brass bands and puppeteers re-enacting San Gennaro’s martyrdom, a vibrant pageant of Sicilian Catholic tradition. In Fujimoto’s version, however, the festival looks about as exciting as a high school pep band rehearsal, with a few token shots of musicians and festival goers. Worse still, Fujimoto has difficulty making these scenes an organic part of the story, inserting them into a potentially suspenseful cat-and-mouse game that unfolds in the alleyways of … well, it’s supposed to be Little Italy, but honestly, it looks as much like Sesame Street as any real city.

About the best I can say for Baccano! is that it clocks in at a mere 160 pages; anything longer would seem as eternal as the characters themselves. I know I’m not the intended audience for this manga, but the series’ die-hard fans — those who read the novels and watched the anime — surely deserve a more artful tie-in than this disastro totale.

BACCANO!, VOL. 1 • ORIGINAL STORY BY RYOHGO NARITA, ART BY SHINTA FUJIMOTO, CHARACTER DESIGN BY KATSUMI ENAMI • TRANSLATION BY TAYLOR ENGEL • YEN PRESS • 160 pp. • RATED T, FOR TEEN (LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE)

The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress, Vol. 2

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By SOW and Zaza. Released in Japan by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by Bookwalker. Translated by David Musto.

It took me a while to get into this volume of the series, but once the main plot got into gear it practically flew along. I felt uncomfortably like Sophia while reading this. She’s the soldier and childhood friend of Lud’s who wants him to return to the military rather than trying to atone for his crimes by baking bread in some town in the middle of nowhere. Lud, over the course of the book, realizes that’s not why he’s doing this, and that being a baker and seeing people happy *is* what he wants going forward. That said, I have to admit that the book really comes alive once the terrorists arrive and things turn a bit Die Hard. Lud may be a baker, but he is also an excellent soldier. That said, I was also pleased that a large amount of the saving the day fell to both Sophia and Sven, who have no need for Lud to come and rescue them.

The book starts off at the bakery but doesn’t stay there long, as fantasy not-Germany is trying to win over its conquered people and therefore is having a party on the not-Hindenburg, and they want Lud’s bread to be part of that. Of course, there are a few small problems. 1) Lud will have to give an interview, and his smile still terrifies people. Luckily, Sven takes over with help from some hair dye and glasses. 2) His former commanding officer/childhood friend is there as well, and she wants him to join the military again so he can be with her… um, I mean do what’s he was meant to do. 3) This is all a publicity stunt, so once Lud actually boards the airship he finds himself cruelly mocked and belittled. And of course 4) Terrorists have boarded the ship and are going to crash it into a major city, killing thousands. Add in Milly, the angry girl from the first book who now has a massive crush on Lud, and has stowed away, and you have a lot going on.

There is, of course, a bit of a harem here, but given Lud’s personality, nothing is really going to come of it. That said, I wonder how much of Lud’s obliviousness is genuine – there’s a clear moment here where he reveals he knows exactly who Sven really is, to her surprise, but it’s just as quickly forgotten. I suspect he’s trying to keep things as they are, which is always a dangerous thing to do in Japanese series – “I wish things could stay like this forever” is a classic death flag. The series also has some very interesting worldbuilding in regards to the supposed “peace” after the war, and how fragile that really is, especially if some of the soldiers who know nothing else are trying to stir up war again. I could have done without the dickhead terrorist stripping and threatening Sophia with rape, the go-to standard for “I want readers to see my villain is eeeeeeevil”, but at least she kneed him across the room and stepped on his goolies, rather than get rescued by Lud. Sophia can take care of herself.

I still wish I could change the font in Bookwalker’s app to a different one, but the translation seems much improved in Book 2. It also comes with a very short story about the world of the series. If you’re looking for a light novel that’s not quite the same as the “standard”, but still has enough tropes to be comfortable, this is an excellent series to read.

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 2

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By Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu. Released in Japan as “Yakusoku no Neverland” by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Satsuki Yamashita.

(As with Vol. 1, and likely going forward, these reviews spoil the volume in question. Because that’s exactly what reviews are for.)

After all the revelations of the last volume, I had expected this one to slow down, and it does a bit, but that does not mean there are not still jaw-dropping moments within. One of the strengths of this series is its ability to pull the rug out from under the reader and make them want to reread everything that’s gone before with the new information in mind. There’s also a wonderful depth of character, something which you do normally see in Jump series, but rarely this early on. A lot of this book comes from Norman’s POV, and shows off how clever he really is, a balance between the cool and logical Ray and the impulsive, naive Emma. In fact, Emma’s naivete is explicitly called out as her weakness. So it’s also wonderful to see that she hasn’t just been saying the most idealistic option without trying to think of ways to make it happen, including the best tag game ever.

Planning a mass breakout of thirty-five or so kids, most of whom are somewhere between four and six years old, is a tough job. Ray is right – it would be so much easier for only a few kids to escape. But Emma is even more right – they can’t escape and leave other innocent kids behind to get killed or eaten or whatever it is that the things outside are doing to them. The tag game is Emma’s way of toughening the kids physically and also forcing them to think on their feet and trust their impulses (which is Emma’s greatest strength). Of course, the game of tag does not only help develop the kids physically, but shows off more of Krone as a character, after she decides to join in in order to prove to herself that she’s the one who has the upper hand. Krone can be terrifying, but I found her a bit less discomfiting than last time, mostly as she’s gained added depth – her war with Mother to see who’s in charge going forward is chilling, as is her scene with Gilda.

And then there’s Ray, who pretty much steals the volume by design. I had expected the “who’s the traitor?” question to be spun out over a few more chapters, but if the reader thinks about it, the traitor has to be someone the reader is already very familiar with, which narrows the list of suspects exponentially. As for Ray himself, I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s going to be headed for a fall in a volume or two – being a double agent is just as difficult as it sounds, and something else is going to go wrong – possibly right away, if that cliffhanger involving the impulsive Don is anything to go by. I also loved the scene with Emma interrogating him – like Norman and Ray, the reader assumes her to be the “Luffy” of the group, an optimistic bright shining light who’s nevertheless a bit simple. But she’s as smart as they are, and her deduction of how he figured out the tracking devices is topped only by her chilling response.

I haven’t even gone into the artwork, which is wonderful, be it the detailed, almost Escher-esque backgrounds or the gloriously silly expressions on Emma’s face. For those who worried that The Promised Neverland couldn’t surpass its first volume, the second book should show you that it’s still a cut above. Highly recommended.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/12/18

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Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 8 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – After a great deal of effort, Tanba shows himself to be in excellent shape for Koshien. This, plus the trust his teammates have in him, makes it even more devastating when he’s hit by a ball in a practice game right before the tournament begins, fracturing his jaw. He’ll be able to return by the quarter-finals, but meanwhile it’s up to the younger pitchers to keep things together until then. I’m a sucker for a good training montage, so enjoyed Chris drilling Furuya and Sawamura on their control and defensive fielding skills. The coach has some nice moments where he shows appreciation for both the team and the female managers, and it’s also satisfying to watch Seido crush their first-round opponents. In fact, this is quite a satisfying volume all around, aside from a couple of grammatical errors in the translation. – Michelle Smith

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 2 | By Ukami |Yen Press – There’s very little actual forward plot here—the series runs on its gags, so mostly what changes is the situation. We see the girls going to the beach; the story of how Gabriel and Vignette first met; the absolute ludicrousness that is Satanya buying a gun (no, not a real gun); Halloween costumes; and the class president, who is 100% human and a bit horrified by the out-of-context dialogue between the class angel and devil. Of course, the question here is “does it work? Is it funny?”, and the answer is yes, this is still funny. Raphael and her trolling continues to be my favorite, though we do see she does have one weakness. If you like light fluffiness and laughs, this is an excellent series to pick up. – Sean Gaffney

I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness | By Yuki Fumino | One Peace Books – One of the debut manga from last year that left the greatest impression on me was the deceptively quiet I Hear the Sunspot, so I was very happy to discover that it had a sequel, Theory of Happiness, that would also be translated. While ostensibly a boys’ love manga, the beautifully nuanced, evolving relationship between the series’ two leads—Taichi and Kohei—is rarely at the forefront of the story. Even so, it remains an essential underlying component constant to both the narrative and its characters. Theory of Happiness also introduces Maya who, like Kohei, has partial hearing loss, but whose experiences and perspectives are uniquely her own. As was the case with the first volume, Theory of Happiness is an exceptionally lovely and thoughtful manga with marvelous characterization. Apparently there is at least one more volume in the series; I hope to see it released in English, too. – Ash Brown

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 28 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – The war ended up being a bit of an anticlimax, mostly as we find out late in the volume that Harukyuu had a ringer from the start who was going to make the outcome obvious. I continue to wonder if Sinbad is going to end up being the major antagonist of the series, but I suspect that may have to wait till Alibaba’s return. Which isn’t happening just yet, though his chibi-doll form is certainly proving more mature than the petulant Judar. As for the war itself, I definitely enjoyed the character development for Kogyoku, who is forced to fight and kill in order to protect those closest to her and make sure they don’t lose themselves. It’s a big step forward for the former petulant princess. As for Aladdin… he’s still a bit lost. Great stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 5 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – Kuroko may be the star of the series, and she’s very good at being clever and solving the problems the police give her, but she is an absolutely horrible, despicable person. The only reason we read this series is because her over-the-top horribleness is so hilarious—when she sets out to seduce the mother of the missing nine-year-old girl who’s been captured by a serial child killer, your jaw wants to drop but you can only laugh. I actually wondered why we never got a follow through on it, but given the volume starts with Kuroko in bed with the victim from volume four, I may simply have to wait patiently. This is not a series for the timid—the graphic child strangulation is as bad as it sounds—but oh my god, it’s fun if you have a certain twisted mindset. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 11 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The grimness of this arc doesn’t let up—Bakugo is rescued, but the sacrifices are significant. I appreciated their teacher explaining that if they weren’t in a very unusual situation right now, he would have expelled the entire class except for those kidnapped and/or injured. Being a hero means following the rules—that’s why they aren’t vigilantes. (No, I haven’t read the side series yet.) We also get some home visits to the class’s parents, which range from hilarious (Bakugo) to dramatic (Izuku) to rather sweet (Kyoka). Next time we should get preparation for provisional hero licenses. In the meantime, enjoy the best thing about the volume, which I never mentioned: the epic All-Might fight in the first half. (OK, yes, and the new dorm chapters.) Top-drawer Jump. – Sean Gaffney

No Game No Life, Please!, Vol. 3 | By Kazuya Yuizaki and Yuu Kamiya | Yen Press -The laughable schedule of the NGNL novels, which have been delayed so often that people now simply roll their eyes, means that this third volume of the spinoff introduces characters from novels which aren’t out yet, and expects the reader to be familiar with them. That said, hardcore NGNL fans are famous for boycotting the Yen Press novels anyway, and are likely getting this solely for the laughs and the fanservice. There’s plenty of both, so they should feel at ease. We do see a bit of the point of this series, which is trying to give Izuna more experience. But for the most part it’s a goofy spinoff manga, not to be taken seriously and meant to be forgotten after it’s read. It does what it wants to. – Sean Gaffney

Orange Junk, Vol. 3 | By Heldrad | Chromatic Press – Oft described as a love letter to shoujo manga, Heldrad’s ongoing webcomic Orange Junk is a wonderfully energetic and addictive series. The third volume sees the conclusion of the male modeling competition which Bruce initially entered in an attempt to pay his mother’s hospital bills. Miles, the son of the man who financially ruined Louise’s family, unexpectedly turns out to be Bruce’s rival in the contest as well as in love. Louise, of course, remains rather oblivious to that particular fact; she hasn’t realized that Bruce has romantic feelings for her and the grudge she holds against Miles and his family overshadows most everything else. Orange Junk is intentionally ridiculous and melodramatic with explosive chemistry and surprising friendships among the increasingly large cast of strong personalities. While it isn’t exactly a parody, the series is most definitely a comedy, and a highly entertaining and legitimately funny one at that. – Ash Brown

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 4| By Natsumi Hoshino | Seven Seas – You’d think that I, a fervent cat lover, would adore Plum Crazy!, but sadly that is proving not to be the case. Maybe the problem is that I love cats for how they actually are, but that the cats in Plum Crazy! are given so much inner dialogue and human motivation that they hardly feel like cats anymore. They exchange Christmas gifts, for example, and there’s a running gag (I use the term loosely) where Plum is concerned about the environment. Occasionally there are some cat-like behaviors, like Plum getting stuck above the ceiling (this really happened to a cat of mine!) and Snowball’s search for a snuggly sleeping spot, but they’re just not enough to make up for the rest (and it bugs me that nobody tries to correct Snowball’s bad behavior). Alas, I think I might be dropping this series. – Michelle Smith

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 2 | By Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu | VIZ Media – After a fantastic and surprising first volume, I have no excuse for being taken completely unawares by the big reveal in this volume, and yet I was. The nuanced way Norman managed to turn this information into an advantage was well handled, and boy, do I have sympathy for his position going forward. Meanwhile, a game of tag with Krone reveals it’s not impossible to get the jump on her, and the three leads decide to bring the next oldest pair (Don and Gilda) into the loop. The thing is… they don’t tell them the whole truth, and I’m sure this is going to come back to bite them, especially since Don is potentially about to discover it on his own by snooping in Mom’s secret room. What a cliffhanger! – Michelle Smith

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 9 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – STILL no amazing breakthrough, though it’s hinted we may FINALLY see it next time. Instead we mercifully get a bit less of Tatara and Chinatsu torturing themselves and more perspective from the rest of the cast, who can’t take their eyes away from this train wreck. We also see the return of Chinatsu’s rival Akira, who gets a flashback which shows, unsurprisingly, that her attitude stems from a severe case of hero worship gone wrong. (It could also be read as sort of yuri if you want to, but I suspect that’s not what the author has in mind.) There’s also a lot of dramatic dancing here, with lots of the art that is probably the best reason to read this title. I’m still reading it, but mother of God, END THIS ARC! – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Happiness Will Prevail

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SEAN: My pick this week is the 15th volume of Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends. It’s been 15 months since the last volume, where we saw Kodaka finally getting the ever-loving crap kicked out of him for his feigned obliviousness. Will this actually shake up the harem, though? I want to find out. Or at least see him get pounded again.

KATE: Any week that sees the release of a new Descending Stories is a good week in my book, but I’m also stoked for Theory of Happiness, a sequel to one of 2017’s most pleasant surprises: I Hear the Sunspot. It wasn’t as dramatic or splashy as some of 2017’s best books, but it won a place in my heart for its sensitive portrayal of male friendship — something we don’t see often enough in our popular culture.

ANNA: I agree with Kate, I Hear the Sunspot was such a wonderful surprise. Theory of Happiness is my pick of the week, I’m eager to find out what happens next with this series.

MICHELLE: I haven’t yet managed to read I Hear the Sunspot, so while I’m sure its sequel will be great, I’ll cast my vote for the fifth volume of Descending Stories, one series I have finally managed to read and am enjoying quite a bit.

ASH: I’ll definitely be reading the latest volume of Descending Stories, but this week my heart (and my pick) belongs to Theory of Happiness. I loved I Hear the Sunspot and have been looking forward to its sequel from the moment I learned that it existed.

MJ: Theory of Happiness! Theory of Happiness! Theory of Happiness! I’m not sure what else to say.

Val x Love, Vol. 1

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By Ryosuke Asakura. Released in Japan as “Ikusa x Koi” by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in their magazine Shonen Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Ko Ransom.

In a way, I almost wish this had been worse. If it was completely bottom-feeling fanservice and nothing else, I could have smiled, nodded, said “Yeah, thought so”, and moved on. But there is the occasional flash, throughout this first volume, that it is going to gain greater depth and try to do something with the psychologies of its main characters, who have a lot of messed up things going on with them. You’d see it poking its head out… and then we’d paper over it with a monster fight which out of necessity seems to involve making out, or feeling up, or some other variety of fanservice that is literally dictated by whatever robotic-voiced rule machine seems to be in charge of the girls. It ends up feeling like you merely have to make the right level ups and the problems will be magically solved. And all the level ups involve stronger levels of “getting closer”. In other words, it’s not all that far from a mediocre ero game.

Our hero is Takuma, a young high schooler with a scary face. Nothing we haven’t seen before in Toradora!, or Haganai, or even Bleach. Except Val x Love takes it up to eleven, giving Takuma immense shark teeth and a huge body, making everyone absolutely terrified whenever he does something. Even worse, he’s somewhat socially inept – all he wants to do is study, so that he can make his dead mother proud. Unfortunately, he freezes up during tests so actually has horrible grades. The guy’s a wreck. And, not helping things, he is now living with eight other women (the ninth is absenting herself as she thinks he’s a loser), all of whom are valkyries sent by Odin to help save the world from demonic invasion. As I indicated abovel, they level up by completing various types of “love” tasks with Takuma – ‘so shopping while holding hands’, ‘be flirty’, and of course ‘feel bare breast for thirty seconds’. When this is achieved, they gain power and can take out the monsters.

There’s a lot that’s still unexplained about the sisters and their background, and most of them are barely sketched in here – I assume future volumes will take care of that. Natsuki is the lead heroine and obvious love interest, who’s a tsundere but competent, sort of in the Rin Tohsaka mode. The otehr featured girl is Itsuyo, who’s a bit more complex – her past as a cowardly girl and a lot of issues with her father have led her to have an outward “teasing oneesama” personality, but when it comes time to put up or shut up she’s freezing up just as badly as Takuma does. I was hoping this would lead to a nice sweet scene where they walk about their similarities and resolve to help each other become more confident. Instead, it leads to a kiss on the cheek and a quick monster elimination.

If you’re a young teen who wants monster fighting, cute girls, and the occasional bare breast (the series is rated M, likely more for that than any violent monster attacks), you’ll likely enjoy this. But it proved immensely frustrating for me in not going down more interesting roads. And given that the preview for the next volume featured the “oh no, I seem to have whipped cream all over my face and breasts” trope which is #1 on my Anti-Hit Parade, I think I will leave Val x Love for other valiant lovers to read.